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Companies Behaving Badly-Not My Fault

It seems like no one wants to take responsibility for anything these days. Everyone from elected officials, politicians, CEOs, utility companies, managers and workers want to blame someone else when “IT”happens. Then the amount of energy and resources used on covering their asses, making up lies and elaborate denials, throwing others under the bus is twice as much if they had just taken care of business in the first place. PGE murdered 8 citizens of San Bruno, California but fought having to take full responsibility for their actions even though they lost track of the records on gas line pipes, they didn’t bother to schedule to test and update pipping but instead seduced the CPUC and tried to buy an outcome in their favor. SoCal gas is another case of a company not taking responsibility as their underground storage has been leaking since it was first reported on Oct 23, 2015 and has caused the large scale disruption to the lives of the people who live there because SoCal gas didn’t want to acknowledge it, then didn’t have a system in place or plan to fix it and has allowed it to continue. Flint, Michigan is another town in this great country that has been lied too by their officials not taking responsibility for their drinking water, saying it’s safe to drink only to find out that, surprise, it’s not! This was created by a lack of planning and competent leadership and fixing the problem can cost billions and that’s not including the cost of long term health effects caused by drinking the water. It’s unfortunate that Governor Snyder doesn’t have the guts to fall on his sword but instead will just bury his head in the sand and wish for the problem to go away. However, in one of the stories below you’ll read of a company that was found to have safety issues, listened and took full responsibility for it. Look. If you want to be the boss and want responsibility, there is nothing wrong with that but you need to understand that you are then accountable. You are accountable for how you run your ship, the crew you pick, the rules you follow and the course you set. Not everyone has the money to run slick “I’m sorry” ads on T.V. Now a Reality check, as of Dec 19th, the latest OSHA numbers available, 227 human beings, each unique, have died in industrial accidents. My, that unfortunately sounds like another episode of companies behaving badly.

$100K fine but praise for swift action – PREVENTABLE – After an OSHA inspection of a Schwan Global Supply Inc. facility, they issued citations for 4 Repeat, 3 Serious and 3 other than serious safety and health violations. It seems in the several years after it was first brought to their attention in a previous inspection, they didn’t have the time to develop written emergency shutdown procedures for the refrigeration system and not training workers. It appears that this latest inspection has woken them up at Schwan as they have taken full responsibility for not addressing these issues and have signed an agreement with OSHA to pay a $100,000 fine and immediately begin correcting all the safety issues. This should also help moral and hopefully begin a dialog on safety. Writing and putting procedures in place and the corresponding training is not difficult to do. You can have someone on your staff look for templates online and write them and have supervisors and managers do the training or you can hire a fire like Warehouseflow Advisors to help you.

OSHA Investigation Results in Sixteen Violations for Logging Company – PREVENTABLE – Considering logging accidents account for 27% of all work related fatalities in West Virginia, it’s no wonder OSHA dropped in on A and S Tree Service and it’s a good thing they did as they found 2 Willful, 11 Serious and 3 other than serious safety violations. They allowed employees to ride as passengers on a dozer without assigned seating and safety belts, exposed them to crushing injuries, no proper PPE used and more. You don’t have to work under those conditions. Never keep quiet about safety.

Hurst business cited by OSHA for safety violations – PREVENTABLE – What happens when you don’t train workers on recognizing and avoiding fall hazards in a language they understand and then place them on them on 2nd and 3rd floors to work without providing fall protection in any form? Exactly what you’d think, a worker fell. Subfloor Systems, for their indifference to workers safety were cited by OSHA for 1 Willful and 1 Serious violation and a proposed fine of $66,000. The worker that fell sustained serious enough injuries that required hospitalization. You have the right to a safe workplace but you have to be aware. If you’re sent to a worksite like this, 2-3 stories high, there should be so form of fall protection, either guardrails, safety nets or personal fall systems to prevent you from falling. If not provided, call OSHA hotline 1 (800) 321-6742

OSHA cites auto parts manufacturer for willfully exposing workers – PREVENTABLE – Imagine being head and elbow deep in a machine with exposed blades and gears and it suddenly starts up. The panic as you try to get out and then watch in horror, your arm severed from your body. That is the potential accident waiting to happen at Daeil manufacturers as they failed to develop, document and implement procedures to prevent multiple types of machinery from starting up during maintenance and servicing. In a recent inspection OSHA found and issued citations for 1 Willful, 5 Repeat, 10 Serious and 1 other than serious safety violations along with a proposed fine of $171,870. This company couldn’t care less about their employees or they would have corrected the repeat violations found a few years earlier. You do not have to work on machinery without using proper LOTO procedures. You can’t be forced to do it or fired for not doing it.

OSHA cites Berea manufacturer for alleged amputation risks – PREVENTABLE – Very similar to the above, Telefast Industries Inc. was cited in 2014 for several violations and didn’t bother to correct them so now in 2016, deja vu, they received 4 Repeat, 2 Seriousand 2 other than serious safety violations and a proposed fine of $121,000. They didn’t think it important enough to install guards or have safety procedures in place to prevent employee amputations or worse.

Worker injuries net OSHA citation and fine for New York manufacturer – PREVENTABLE – Yet again, another company that was informed of hazards present to their workers but didn’t think it important enough to do anything about it even after more injuries. Genpak LLC was cited for 2 Repeat, 6 Serious and 1 other than serious violations along with a proposed fine of $103,200. The new inspections came after one worker had a partial finger amputated and a month later another was severely burned after his forklift ignited butane vapors. To really test their luck the company was using the wrong type rated forklift in an area full of flammable gases.

Well that brings yet another episode of Companies Behaving Badly to a close. Hope you enjoyed the articles and stories and as always, appreciate you taking time out of your busy day and stopping by. Please feel free to use any or all of these stories at your next safety tailgate/toolbox meeting. Please don’t keep quiet about safety. If you feel that your life may be in danger or that you could be seriously injured and you have reported your concerns to management and no one has addressed them call the OSHA Hotline at 1 (800) 321-6742. Remember the life you save may be your own.